Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

At around 12:10 am, the smoke detectors of the remote monitoring system activated an alarm at a non-metal recycling plant. The on-call staff arrived at the site, observed the fire outbreak and thick black smoke and alerted the fire department. The IOP was activated. The fire started in a big-bag in the assembly area where four drums of solid waste labelled “paint and varnish sludge containing organic solvents or other” were spilled on 21st July. The emergency services rapidly controlled the spreading of this fire by thermal radiation to a tank containing oil filters, as well as the big-bag. A fire-fighter was injured during the intervention. Fire extinction water was contained in the site’s holding tank site and its valve was immediately closed. Analyses were performed by an external laboratory to determine the condition of the water; according to the operator’s report issued on 16th August, the effluent was found to meet the set of standards in the Prefectural authorisation and therefore discharged. According to the operator, the waste contained in the big-bag reacted slowly in contact with air, and moreover similar cases of spontaneous combustion of such waste had already occurred in France. Following the incident, various measures were taken: reconditioning of the waste in airtight and lined big-bags to be undertaken no later than 25th July to allow for at least 48 hours of monitoring. The big-bag was to be placed on a metal support instead of pallets. A complete inspection of the platform was carried out on 28th July between 6 and 8 pm.